Cup dispenser having a plurality of simultaneously acting circumposed oscillating cup ejectors



,2 79,652 USLY JECTORS Oct. 18. 1966 E. WILLVONSEDER 3 CUP DISPENSER HAVING A PLURALITY OF SIMULTANEO ACTING CIRCUMPOSED QSCILLATING CUP E Filed Jan. 27, 1965 United States Patent O1 3,279,652 Patented Oct. 18, 1966 :"rce

3,279,652 CUP DISPENSER HAVING A PLURALITY OF SI- MULTANEOUSLY ACTING CIRCUMPOSED S- CILLATING CUP EJECTORS Ernest Willvonseder, 550 Shore Acres Drive,

Mamaroneck, N.Y. Filed Jan. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 428,312 4 Claims. (Cl. 221-223) This invention relates to apparatus for dispensing flanged paper cups or the like, one at a time, from a verticle stack thereof.

Various forms of cup dispensers have been developed and are in common use including cup dispensers of the type including a plurality of oscillatable cam members driven from a common ring gear and adapted to dispense cups responsive to angular reciprocation of the ring gear.

It is a general object of applicants invention to provide an improved dispenser of the oscillate cam type which is of minimum weight, maximum reliability in operation and adapted to low cost manufacturing methods.

A further object is to provide a dispenser which requires no lubrication and which has minimum heat conduction characteristics.

A further object is to provide a cup dispenser which has minimum space requirements.

Another object is to provide a cup dispenser readily serviceable from top 'or bottom mounted position.

A further object is to provide a cup dispenser having a free floating ring gear arrangement adapted to avoid jamming of the mechanism due to abnormal force or warpage.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following description of some embodiments of the invention and from reviewing the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a cup dispenser incorporating the invention with portions of the upper covering removed,

FIG. 2 is an elevational view partly in cross-section taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged elevational view of one of the rotatable cams shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail and initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a cup dispenser indicated generally at and comprising a hollow casing 11 formed of an upper half 12 and a lower half 14, a plurality of angularly spaced oscillatable cam members 16 and a common ring gear 18. The ring gear 18 is formed on its inner periphery with teeth 20 to engage a pinion gear portion 22 of the cam member 16. An outwardly projecting operating handle 24 is provided on the ring gear 18 to provide angular reciprocatory movement to the ring gear to oscillate the cam members 16 in unison.

An important feature of the invention is the shape and mounting of the ring gear 18 in cooperation with the casing structure.

It will be noted that the upper and lower casing halves 12 and 14 each include a wall and skirt with the walls being formed with pairs of aligned recesses which form bearing seats 26 for opposite projecting shaft portions 28 of the cam members. The outer perimeter of the casing 11 is closed by outer mating walls 30 and 32 except for a slotted portion 34 through which the handle 24 projects. The casing halves 12 and 14 are held together by screws 36 and nuts 38, the screws passing through aligned tubular portions 40 and 42 of the casing halves. The tubular portions 40 and 42 are formed at angularly spaced positions in the casing between adjacent cam members. Radial web portions 44 suitably formed on the lower wall serve to strengthen the casing halves and to provide spaced elements for slidably supporting the ring gear 18.

Projecting outwardly from the outer periphery of the ring gear are provided spaced vertical ribs or projections 46 which terminate adjacent but normally do not engage the outer wall 30 of the casing halve 14.

The function of the webs 44 and projections 46 is to provide a floating arrangement of ring gear and housing. In conventional cup dispensers of the ring gear and pinion cam type the ring gear is slidably engaged with the base and adjacent wall of the casing. This requires lubrication of the ring gear and casing and provides maximum surface to surface contact. Also jamming of the ring gear may develop due to warpage of the ring gear, distortion of the ring gear due to abnormal force on the handle or denting or damaging of the casing outer wall due to handling.

In the device according to the subject invention the above-mentioned difiiculties are avoided. Dents in the casing, unless quite large, will not normally interfere with operating the device because the ring gear is spaced from the casing. The ring gear is normally positioned concentrically by the cam member pinions. The ring gear is positioned vertically by the webs 44 and is limited in upward movement by the overlapping portion of the cam members 16.

The handle 24 is normally reciprocated by a solenoid or motor (not shown) and/or spring means (not shown). In the event that excessive force is applied to the handle 24 the ring gear may be momentarily distorted. This could cause the teeth on the ring gear to jump over the teeth on one of the cam pinions 22. However, when such force is applied, the distortion of the ring gear is limited by engagement of one or more of the projections 46 with the adjacent outer wall 32 such that tooth jumping and the resultant misalignment of the cam members does not occur.

Devices of this type may require hanging from the lower side or mounting on the upper side of a supporting structure depending upon the particular installation. To provide for such alternate mounting both the top and lower half of the casing are formed with spaced apertures 48 and polysided recesses 50 to receive screws and nuts (not shown). However, adjacent the free ends of tubular portions 40 and 42 polysided recesses are formed in both the top and bottom surfaces 52 and 54 of the casing such that the screws 36 and nuts 38 may be positioned with the screw head at the top or bottom as desired. Thus, whether the case is to be mounted from the top half or the bottom half thereof the screws 36 and nuts 38 may be applied such that one-half of the casing may be removed to service the cam members without detaching the other half.

With the exception of the screws and nuts, applicants device is made of plastic materials selected to require no lubrication. Dissimilar materials have been used where possible to minimum friction. In one suitable combination of materials, high impact polystyrene is used for the casing and webs and Celcon is used for the ring gear and pinion. One suitable high impact polystyrene is that sold by Monsanto Chemical Co. of St, Louis, Missouri, under the trademark Lustrex. Lustrex is a heatresistant polystyrene resin more particularly identified as HT-88 Styrene acrylonitrite butadiene-terpolymer. Celcon is a trademark of Celanese Corporation of America, New York, N.Y., identifying an ethyl cellulose plastic.

In conventional devices of this type, periodic lubrication is required and paper chips from the cups and dust and dirt accumulated in the lubricant developing friction and binding. In applicants device, no lubricant is required and extraneous material can be blown out with an air hose. Also, by eliminating the need for lubricant, a

3 retaining flange provided in conventional devices adjacent the pinion gears 22 is no longer required, thus providing an increased diameter passage for the cups without increasing the diameter of the overall device. Eliminating lubricant also provides a more sanitary device and eliminates a breeding ground for bacteria.

It has been discovered also that the use of plastic material provides longer life in the handle 24 which at the end of each stroke hits the adjacent edge of the casing as a stop means. Use of plastics apparently provides suflicient flexibility such that the development of fatigue stresses and crystallization of material is avoided.

The use of plastic material also minimizes heat conduction. This is important in a dispenser handling waxed cups.

The plastics'are also desirable in reducing weight and cost and in reducing inertia of the moving parts, thereby requiring less drive force and reducing force generated on the stop means.

Operation of the device should be evident from the above description. The several cam members 16 are set to receive on the surface 56 of the cams the flange of the lowermost cup when the handle is in its extreme righthand position indicated by the dotted outline 2411. Movement of the handle to the left to the position indicated in dotted outline at 24b causes the lowermost cup to be ejected by cam surface 58, the remainder of the stack of cups being supported on the surface 60 of the cam until the handle 24 is moved back to position 24a.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and it is intended in the attached claims to include all such changes and modifications.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for dispensing flanged paper cups or the like, one at a time, from a vertical stack thereof comprising:

a hollow casing having upper and lower walls, and skirts, said upper and lower walls being apertured on a vertical axis to pass said cups vertically through said casing,

said upper and lower casing walls being formed with a plurality of pairs of vertically aligned tubular portions having bearing seats spaced about and concentric with said vertical axis,

a plurality of cam members each having oppositely directed shaft portions for rotatably mounting each cam member in an associated vtpair of said bearing seats and intermediate cam and pinion gears,

a ring gear positioned in said casing between said skirts and said pinion gears,

said ring gear having an outer periphery spaced a sufiicient distance'from said skirts to prevent binding contact therebetween in the event of distortion of said ring gear or skirts, and a toothed inner periphery engaging said gears to rotate said cam members in unison,

said lower wall being formed with radially spaced bearing surface webs to slidably support said ring gear,

said ring gear having an outwardly projecting handle to move said ring gear in rotary reciprocatory movement,

said casing outer wall being slotted to accommodate said projecting handle,

and stop means for limiting the reciprocatory movement of said ring gear,

each of said cam portions of said cam members having .a cam surface to engage the flange of the lower cup in said stack in rotation of said cam members to discharge said cup and vertically spaced support surfaces for supporting the remainder of said cup stack during said cam member rotation.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said outer periphery of said ring gear being formed with angularly spaced projections to engage said outer wall of said housing when undue force or shock is placed upon said ring gear to prevent distortion of said ring gear and tooth jumping between said ring and pinion gears.

3. Apparatus asset forth in claim 1, said cam members and ring gear being formed of self lubricating plastic materials,

said pinion gear portions of said cam members and said ring gear both being positioned above all portions of said lower case wall such that no lubrication material is required and there is no obstruction to the exit of foreign material through the central apertures of said upper and lower walls.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1, said casing being formed in upper and lower detachably interconnected sections, fastening means comprising a screw element and a nonsymmetrical looking element for securing said sections together,

said sections being formed with aligned pairs of tubular projecting portions to receive said screw elements and pairs of recessed portions shaped to accommodate said locking elements and prevent rotation thereof such that said casing can be assembled and disassembled selectively from either the upper or lower case wall, depending upon the manner, in which said fastening elements are applied.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner. WALTER SOBIN, Examiner.

Benjamin 339206 X 1 Wessman 221-222, 

1. APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING FLANGED PAPER CUPS OR THE LIKE, ONE AT A TIME, FROM A VERTICAL STACK THEREOF COMPRISING: A HOLLOW CASING HAVING UPPER AND LOWER WALLS, AND SKIRTS, SAID UPPER AND LOWER WALLS BEING APERTURED ON A VERTICAL AXIS TO PASS SAID CUPS VERTICALLY THROUGH SAID CASING, SAID UPPER AND LOWER CASING WALLS BEING FORMED WITH A PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF VERTICALLY ALIGNED TUBULAR PORTIONS HAVING BEARING SEATS SPACED ABOUT AND CONCENTRIC WITH SAID VERTICAL AXIS, A PLURALITY OF PAIRS OF VERTICALLY ALIGNED TUBULAR PORDIRECTED SHAFT PORTIONS FOR ROTATABLY MOUNTING EACH CAM MEMBER IN AN ASSOCIATED PAIR OF SAID BEARING SEATS AND INTERMEDIATE CAM AND PINION GEARS, A RING GEAR POSITIONED IN SAID CASING BETWEEN SAID SKIRTS AND SAID PINION GEARS, SAID RING GEAR HAVING AN OUTER PERIPHERY SPACED A SUFFICIENT DISTANCE FROM SAID SKIRTS TO PREVENT BINDING CONTACT THEREBETWEEN IN THE EVENT OF DISTORTION OF SAID RING GEAR OR SKIRTS, AND A TOOTHED INNER PERIPHERY ENGAGING SAID GEARS TO ROTATE SAID CAM MEMBERS IN UNISON, SAID LOWER WALL BEING FORMED WITH RADIALLY SPACED BEARING SURFACE WEBS TO SLIDABLY SUPPORT SAID RING GEAR, SAID RING GEAR HAGVING AN OUTWARDLY PROJECTING HANDLE TO MOVE SAID RING GEAR IN ROTARY RECIPROCATORY MOVEMENT, SAID CASING OUTER WALL BEING SLOTTED TO ACCOMMODATE SAID PROJECTING HANDLE, AND STOP MEANS FOR LIMITING THE RECIPROCATORY MOVEMENT OF SAID RING GEAR, EACH OF SAID CAM PORTIONS OF SAID CAM MEMBERS HAVING A CAM SURFACE TO ENGAGE THE FLANGE OF THE LOWER CUP IN SAID STACK IN ROTATION OF SAID CAM MEMBERS TO DISCHARGE SAID CUP AND VERTICALLY SPACED SUPPORT SURFACES FOR SUPPORTING THE REMAINDER OF SAID CUP STACK DURING SAID CAM MEMBER ROTATION. 